There isn't a single snowflake out of place in this vast whiteness.

It's a pure solid white.

I'm not even sure If I could make out that the structures in the distance as mountains unless portions of their cliff edges showed dark stone pointing up into the sky.

The sizzle of water being evaporated into steam is the only sound that reaches my ears. Everything else here is eerily silent.

Well, it's actually not that eerie, more like peaceful silence. I'm just on edge because I know what's waiting for me.

With each step forward, the snow beneath my feet continues to melt. I do find a glossy blue floor now far below to place my feet. It feels like ice but doesn't immediately sizzle away like the snow. This layer takes a few seconds to melt from my fire residue so I'm able to walk across it.

Using mana manipulation and wind magic to guide my steps, slipping around isn't an issue.

After a few seconds, I air-step into the sky and Ember follows.

My prescription skills are on full blast, but nothing is showing up on my radar yet again.

"Why do these Ranked-Up opponents always make me wait..."

I hear a reply as I hop on his back and we begin soaring toward the back of the Boss Room.

"Stay alert. It could be lurking anywhere. Even if it's been watching you this whole time, I doubt it'd show its face the moment we enter its lair."

I stay silent and follow the wise dragon's advice. We glide over the flatter portion of the landscape with ease, then arrive at a section of rolling hills.

Beyond these, there's a wide shallow crater of blue ice with little to no snow at all leading up to the base of the curved mountain range in the back.

The moment we cross over into the new section of dungeon, I feel a pulse of mana come out from the mountain.

It's pure, crisp, and cold. This is nothing at all like I'd expect from a demon.

Gritting my teeth, I stare forward and concentrate.

The top of the mountain begins to glow light blue filling the sky with its magical essence. It flashes, sending out another pulse mere seconds after the first.

Ember comes to a halt, hovering in mid-air a distance away from the mountain.

As the flash of white and blue light stops a transparent shimmering circle of energy has formed behind the mountain's peak. It's enormous and gives off a mana signature that I've never felt before.

It's mostly mana, but there's something about this ring that feels very offputting.

I can see the sky behind it, and the curved edges glimmer with silver and white light even after the flash but have become much dimmer now.

Ember's voice echoes in my mind.

"The Arch Demon's battle partner has come to greet us."

I clench my jaw and grip my sword.

"You were right."

As these words transfer over our link, we're interrupted.

A loud metallic twang and cracking noise come from the ring in the sky. It flashes silver, blue, and white again, sending out a final pulse much more bright and intense.

This is followed by a deafening screech that distorts into a vicious roar.

All I can see is snow from all the nearby mountains fall from their high points and tumble down in a mass avalanche.

Ember reflexively flaps his wings bringing us high into the air away from any future debris from the snowfall.

Simultaneously, my enemy detection, inspect, and appraisal skills finally latch onto something.

___________________________

[750m]

[Lv. 608]

Active Items:

[Tier 3 Dragon Scales] +144% Mental Strength +90% Magic Resistance

[Platinum Amulet of Frost] +137% Mental Strength +90% Ice Magic

Active Skills:

Plunderer [Legendary Grade]

Combat Magic [Advanced Ice Summoning]

Buffs:

[Ice Dragon's Spawn][Hidden Ability]

[Ultimate Ice Defense][Hidden Ability]

___________________________

Two enormous white wings emerge from the flash of light.

With each flap, they move large amounts of wind to push the remaining snow off the top of the furthest mountains.

Although I'm nearly a kilometer away I can tell the creature that teleports into the dungeon is monstrous in size.

Possibly over twice as large as Ember...

Its jagged white teeth glimmer brighter than the snow and its royal blue eyes glow darker than the ice bowl below.

With a twisting pointed tail and dark underbelly a similar hue to its eyes, the white-scaled dragon comes into full view and lets out another roar while hovering above the mountain.

I whisper under my breath.

"It looks like we get a warmup round..."

Ember replies to my mumbles through the link in a calm voice but with an undertone of anger.

"An Ice Dragon... It sent its partner to test our strength. Their souls are linked just like ours, so don't think for a second that monster will go down easy."

The monster in question stretches its wings after the second roar, then finally locks eyes on us.

It begins to flap its wings and fly toward us with impressive speed.

I switch into full battle mode, thinking about its status for possible strengths and weaknesses.

There are a few things that differ from theirs and Ember's.

Firstly, its plunderer skill is a rank lower. It's still higher than mine at a Legendary Grade, but one under Ember's who has a Mythic Grade skill.

Its combat magic skill is straightforward. A clear difference. Ice and Fire are clear opposites. Luckily, Fire-based attacks are very effective against Ice. Although both dragons generally have high magic resistance, there is still a clear advantage here.

Next, this dragon doesn't have a telepathy skill. I'm positive the body double for its master had one, so it can communicate, but only if directly talked to... Interesting.

Lastly, its buffs. These must be an innate hidden ability or a gifted one after the rank-up process... We'll find out soon enough.

Either way, the fight is getting started.

I reply.

"Let's do this."

I activate all my stat-boosting skills to their fullest capacity while reaching into my item storage to pull out my dagger.

Ember glows beneath me and I feel the heat of his flames growing hotter as dark flames build up inside of him.

[500m]

The enormous white-scaled dragon swoops downward, gaining speed while soaring less than 30 meters from the side of the mountain before hitting our eye level. It begins to glow light blue. The closer it travels, the brighter it shines.

[300m]

Dark flames surround my right side carrying a sword, and the same colored aura leaks from Ember's mouth ready to release a wave of high-powered fire magic at a moment's notice.

My left side is surrounded by wind magic aided by my mana manipulation skill, giving it a sharper and more concise edge.

[150m]

I'm not just looking at the Dragon through my perception skills anymore, its features are crystal clear and even more menacing than I expected up close. With glossy white scales, and claws bigger than my entire torso, this Ranked-Up Dragon is quite possibly the largest monster I've ever seen.

Definitely the strongest.

My entire body glows in a golden white light as it's surrounded by flames and dark red swirling magic. A long trail of fire and steam falls behind us.

I stand on Ember's back with my eyes locked forward, preparing to let out a devastating blow then Dungeon Walk us away to fire another or find cover... depending on how this attack lands.

The incoming Ice Dragon's eyes tighten as particles of Ice leave its mouth waiting to be let out in a violent explosion as well.

[50m]

"It's time."

I swing my sword and dagger across my body while Ember opens his mouth wide.

Two supercharged crescents of white and black mana-imbued light twist together and head straight toward the glowing White Dragon. Beneath these mana blades, a thick dark crimson cylinder of flames erupts from the Black-Scaled dragon and follows the same path toward our enemy.

The air around us ripples with intensity. The buzzing sound of mana, and hissing sound of steam are all drowned out by what I hear next.

The Frost Dragon's screech returns as it releases its counterattack of blinding white and blue light.

The intensity of its blast is overwhelming. So much mana in such a small space...

[0m]